Fo’ shizzle.

Robin’s wacky! Robin’s very purposefully wacky. Our previous wacky character mainstay, Walky, has found himself saddled with a truckload of angst. And so we needed some wacky infusion. Plus, like, Sal’s off the team and Dina’s gone, so we needed another girl.

The inspiration for Robin’s specific attitude is based on the pre-angst version of Sal. Y’know, the zany highschooler who boops people’s noses. But Sal had owned the cool/angst/badass arena for a while, and so I gave her earlier characterization to Robin so I could, like, have a version of it to play with full time. It’s an important characterization quadrant for me to tap into. (Becky would settle there due to Robin’s general absence in Dumbing of Age.) But because of this, I had confidence I’d be able to write a lot of Robin, which is why I assumed I’d have her cross over into whatever webcomic came next.

I think Hanlon’s Razor (don’t attribute malice to that which is sufficiently explained by ignorance) applies here.
Myself, as a non-American with no knowledge of slang over there, I assumed for the longest time that “Fo’ shizzle” was just Robin-speak, and only learned like a week ago that it’s a phrase people actually use.

I’m not 100% certain on it, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but apparently it’s a slang expression popularised in the rap community that means “for shit”, which in this case means “for sure”.
Apparently it got added to the Oxford Dictionary some time ago, so clearly it sees at least somewhat wide use.

They’re pronouncable sequences that carry a consistent meaning. So, yes, they are words. (‘Fo’ being a pretty common pronunciation of ‘for’ in multiple dialects, and not an easily traced coinage like shizzle, either.)

It’s kinda difficult to divorce Robin from the DoA one and as she’d be in Shortpacked at times. Like, she’s being wacky and all, but I am waiting for her to step on someone’s feelings, probably without meaning to.